Stress and the effect on children with eczema

With COVID-19 dominating everyone’s thoughts all day, and impacting every single area of life one of the most common side effects of lock down is the extra stress.

These are unprecedented times with everyone worried about their job security, health of loved ones and how family members are coping. This combined with being asked to stay at home unless it’s absolutely essential is causing high stress levels and children can pick up on this.

With their routines up in the air and able to see extended family and friends, children can be anxious and worried about the pandemic and this can often cause their skin to flare.

There are things you can do to help keep your child from worrying too much.

Try not to push school work on them if they aren’t engaging – there are lots of ways to learn from spotting plant types on nature walks to crafts that will still be educational without a classroom environment.

If your child is missing their school friends, arrange Zoom or video calls to keep them entertained.

Talk to them about the pandemic and try to answer their questions honestly. News shows like Newsround on CBBC are good at explaining the pandemic for young viewers.

If they are struggling to get to sleep or sleep through the night, limit electronic devices in the evening before bed and none at all for the last hour they are awake.

If no one in your household is showing symptoms, use the one hour of exercise allowed to skoot, skate or cycle and help them burn as much energy as they can.

It may seem like everyone is dealing with COVID-19 really well on social media, but the reality is most of us are struggling and trying our best to get through it. Stay safe, stay home and let’s all get through this together.

Eczema Outreach Support is registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator, charity number SC042392. Our head office is in Scotland, but we support families all over the UK. Address: 129, High Street, Linlithgow, EH49 7EJ, West Lothian